Freeport City Council votes to call on Romney to help save 170 jobs from being outsourced from Bain-owned Freeport plant

FREEPORT, Ill. — The Freeport City Council passed a resolution Monday, July 16, urging former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, to take a stand for the 170 American workers facing outsourcing by Bain Capital-owned Sensata Technologies in Freeport. The resolution passed unanimously in an 8-0 vote.

Sensata Technologies, which was created by Bain Capital in 2006, develops, manufactures, and sells sensors and controls for major auto manufacturers such as Ford and General Motors.

Bain Capital is a private equity investment firm co-founded by Romney in 1984. Romney served as CEO of the company from 1984 until 2002, according to SEC filings (Romney, however, has repeatedly said he left the company in 1999).

Despite rising profits, the company plans to institute the final layoffs in December. The workers are training their Chinese replacements, who have been flown to Illinois by the company.

In recent weeks, Sensata workers have kept the pressure on Romney with a signed letter to the campaign, frequent protests outside the plant, and a community meeting to educate Freeport residents about the impending layoffs.

In addition to the support workers have received from community, faith and labor groups, U.S. Reps. Don Manzullo, R-Ill., and Bobby Schilling, R-Ill., recently sent a letter to Sensata CEO Thomas Wroe Jr. urging the company to keep the jobs in Freeport.

“We’re grateful to the city council for standing with us in this fight to save our jobs,” said Cheryl Randecker, who has worked at the plant for 33 years. “It’s not just our jobs on the line, but also the future of our community. We hope Romney will join us in this fight, and make it clear that he stands with American workers — not companies like Bain that want to ship our jobs overseas.”

3 thoughts on “Freeport City Council votes to call on Romney to help save 170 jobs from being outsourced from Bain-owned Freeport plant”

Key term in the story: “rising profits” just not good enough for the vultures.

I suppose the Illinois workers could’ve offered to work for minimum wage, no benefits, no overtime rate, no paid holidays off, no job security (for example missing one day due to giving birth), but I am certain that just wouldn’t satisfy Mitt Romney’s buddies at Bain.